The Deceased
by Kurasuko
Summary: An amnesiac Rayman awakes to find himself being led to his death by the very ones he's saved in the past. Rated T for violence and blood. Please review, because most people don't review my stories.
1. THE LAST DAY

PROLOGUE: THE LAST DAY

Rayman's eyes were blinded with light as the door was flung open. He shut them closed with all his might, not opening them until several seconds later. At first fuzzy and blurred, shapes of creatures of all kinds gradually came into focus. They were jeering, their fists waiving angrily in the air. Rayman looked upon them all. Teensies, toads, large, green flies, snakes, and all manner of other folk were all shouting angrily at him. He realized that he was being carried down a path by two huge, muscular Rabbids.

_Like from when they invaded my world,_ he thought distantly. _But...where are they taking me?_ A crushed can shattered Rayman's thoughts as it hit his head.

"Traitor!" a Teensie called.

"Murderer!" someone else added.

"Abomination!" more jeers came from the crowd. Why were they angry with him? He couldn't remember. He attempted to ask, but he couldn't move his mouth. Rayman then realized that he couldn't move at all. He partially moved his head to look at himself and saw that his body was encased in a giant iron cast. He noticed that he could feel an iron mask fitted painfully over his face, and that the only air he could feel came through the eye holes. He could barely breathe.

He felt a strong hand shove his head back up, and he could see steps. They lead up to a Teensie with a covered face and a spear. The realization and shock came hard and fast, and Rayman could feel himself involuntarily trying to scream as he realized he was going to be impaled. But all that came out was a small, muffled sound. Rayman was spun around as the executioner readied his spear. His head whirled from side to side, glancing at numerous faces, looking for someone who might help him. In the center, he saw, was Ly. She was watching him, and he returned her gaze, giving her a pleading look. Rayman could barely see tears form in her eyes as she quickly turned away and left. Rayman felt hopelessness consume him as he watched her go. Time slowed down and the jeering crowd faded away to nothingness. Ly seemed to push past something that Rayman didn't notice, and then the tall toad she'd shoved aside stepped back in his place. Time resumed its normal speed and the crowd returned was Ly vanished from view. He could hear a quiet grunt as the executioner steadied his spear, so that it would drive through Rayman's exact center. He could also hear the magic beginning to course through it, allowing it to drive through the iron casing that Rayman was in. He closed his eyes, waiting. Rayman heard a louder grunt, heard the sound of something piercing iron, felt an immense pain, the same sound of iron again and a warm splash of blood. His blood. The executioner then shifted the spear downward, driving it into the ground, thus permanently rooting Rayman in that spot. Rayman felt pain, not just from the spear, but from the angry crowd, the feeling of anguish as he saw Ly walk away, and the confusion of not knowing what he had done in the first place. Then his heartbeat, which had been quickening all the while, stopped, his mind went blank, and Rayman, once the savior of the world many times over, died by the hands of the ones he'd once protected.


	2. THE FIRST DAY

**Author's note: Yeah, I lied in the description. It's obviously **_**not**_** one chapter, which is proof that you just can't trust what I say ;)**

REBIRTH: THE FIRST DAY

Rayman took a weak breath. He heard someone gasp, and his eyes flew open. He could feel immense pain, but he also discovered that he could breathe easier. He looked down and saw that the hole in his chest was covered in bandages. _The hole_. The casing and spear were both gone. He looked over and saw that the spear was still where it had been, but _he_ had been moved. He then looked forward and saw Ly.

"Ly!" he got up with some effort and began to move forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Ly jumped back, anger and terror in her voice. Rayman stopped.

"What?"

"How?" she asked. "How are you still alive?"

"I..." Rayman stammered. "I don't know. Why are you so afraid?" He began to step forward, and gasped as a fireball flew passed him, singing the ground as it fell behind him.

"That was a warning shot," Ly told him. "Come any closer, and _I'll kill you_. And this time I'll make sure that you stay dead." Rayman was confused and afraid now.

"What did I do?" he asked her. "What did do to make them want to kill me? To make _you_ want to kill me?"

"How could you not remember?!" Ly cried out. "You killed them! How can you not remember killing them?! Were they that meaningless to you?! Just puppets for you to throw away whenever?!"

"Who did I kill?" Rayman asked. "What are you talking about?" Ly gave an incoherent shout and Rayman felt his chest burn as fireball knocked him to the ground.

"Monster," she spat. "You killed Globox and the Grand Minimus, Rayman! You took the both and tore them apart! And now you can't even remember that you did it!" she paused, and her voice grew softer. "I...I liked you. You were kind, and strong, and you stood up for what was right. But I suppose that that was just a cover. You disgust me, Rayman. You killed your best friend and you don't even recall doing it!" Tears filled her eyes as Rayman felt another fireball fly into his chest. Ly ran away, her sobs filling the hollows of Rayman's mind.

"Globox...?" he said quietly. Rayman could feel realization, pain, and all around misery welling up inside of him, until he couldn't hold it in anymore. "_Globox!_"

* * *

Rayman staggered to the cemetery, the old forgotten cemetery. He was trying to run, but he couldn't move his body properly. He fell upon the headstones, pushing himself off and continuing as he went on, searching for the grave. He could hear himself muttering in a hoarse voice, "no...no...no...", but he couldn't stop. He didn't care. At last, he came upon the grave. There was a name and a brief obituary.

_Globox_

_The Victim of a False Friendship with a False Hero_

Once again, Rayman wept, and he felt his strength fall away. He fell to the ground in front of the headstone.

"I'm sorry Globox," he whispered weakly. "I'm...so...sorry..." Rayman could feel himself drifting away into nothingness.

* * *

"_Wake,_" Rayman felt himself wake up suddenly. He could see a silhouette of someone. It looked like...Ly? The light then faded, and Rayman saw that the one leaning above him was not Ly. It was indeed a girl who looked as if Polokus had made her in the same image as Rayman's former friend, but instead of lively yellowish-orange with purple stripes, she wore a gray outfit with black stripes in the same places. Her face was gray as well, and she had white hair and a white tail, both the same kind and style as Ly's. A bandage was wrapped around her head, covering her right eye. Her left eye had a red iris, and, as far as Rayman could tell, no pupil. Upon closer inspection however, he realized that the pupil was just a slightly darker shade of red only visible at close proximity.

"It's uncomfortable when you stare at me," the girl said monotonously. Rayman jumped a little and looked away.

"Sorry," he said. The girl didn't respond. She stood up fully, and motioned for Rayman to stand as well.

"Why are you here?" Rayman asked her. The girl didn't answer. Instead, she started walking away. Her hand came up made a gesture for Rayman to follow her. Rayman ran up beside her.

"You are dead," she said as soon as he caught up to her.

"Huh?!" Rayman cried out, tripping. The girl turned to him and promptly placed her hand on his cheek. Rayman didn't feel any heat or cold from her oddly soft hand.

"Your body is cold, and your heart does not beat," she continued, standing up and beginning to walk again. "You have no pulse, and no blood flows through your veins." Rayman followed her, almost straining to hear her quiet voice.

"However," she stopped. "You still live." Rayman looked at her, confused. The girl either didn't notice or bother to respond.

"Rayman," she almost whispered. "_You didn't kill Globox or the Grand Minimus_." Rayman's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know?!" he asked.

"Your own memory is proof of that, is it not?" the girl reasoned. "You cannot remember ever killing them; you don't even have any memory of the past two days."

"Yeah, I—" Rayman stopped. "How do you know that I don't remember anything from yesterday or the day before?"

"If you did remember what had happened we would never have met," the girl answered completely unfazed, as if she had already expected the question to come. "Because you would've already stopped the true murderer." She continued walking. Rayman stared after her, even more confused than he had been.

"No matter how many times you stare at me, it's not any less uncomfortable," she said suddenly. Rayman jumped.

"Sorry," he apologized as he caught up with her. She didn't seem to notice. They walked on in silence for what felt like hours.

"Um," Rayman attempted to start a conversation. "Where are we going?"

"Why would you ask me?" the girl responded. Despite the comment, her voice held no emotion at all. "This is about you being framed. Therefore, where _are_ we going?"

"If this is my task," Rayman wondered aloud, "then why are you helping me? Just who _are_ you?"

"My name," the girl looked at the ground, and Rayman thought he saw the slightest bit of emotion in her one visible eye. "My name is Niehr." Something about the name put Rayman on edge. He couldn't tell what it was though.

"You look a lot like someone who used to be my friend before all this happened," Rayman blurted out suddenly. "I only wish you maybe acted like her, too. Maybe then I still wouldn't feel so alone in all this."

"Perhaps you are," Niehr replied without any hesitation. Rayman looked at the ground. This girl, who resembled Ly physically, was so different from her. He didn't like Niehr. Something about her...wasn't right.

"I know you don't like me," Niehr told Rayman suddenly. "When you saw me, you thought that I would be like your friend Ly, isn't that right?" Rayman, surprised, nodded.

"I'm sorry," if Niehr _was_ sorry she certainly didn't sound it. "I cannot change to make other people happy."

"No, I'm sorry," Rayman found himself apologizing for reasons he couldn't explain. "Maybe I was basing too much off how you compared to Ly." Niehr looked at him for once.

"There was your proof," she said, the faintest smile on her lips.

"What?" Rayman asked again.

"The Rayman that supposedly killed Globox and the Grand Minimus wouldn't have said that," Niehr explained. "Or at least wouldn't have meant it. I can...I know that that came from the true Rayman." Rayman couldn't believe that Niehr had said something so...encouraging. It wasn't what he had expected from her at all. Maybe then, he thought just a little bit more of her.

"Niehr," he turned to her. "I would like you to help me find out who framed me and had me executed. From what I can tell with you, the only way to ensure your help is with a formal statement." Niehr seemed to give a small smile for just one instant, then said, "Yes." The two continued walking down the desolate road.

* * *

Ly felt horrible. Rayman was alive, and she had said awful things to him. Just thinking about the conversation made her stomach hurt, matching the ache in her heart. Did he really not remember?

"Ly," a voice said from behind her. Ly turned around and leaped back.

"You!" she cried out. She readied a fireball. "I thought that I killed you last time!"

"Ly, wait!" Raymond held out his hand. Ly ignored him and charged forward, throwing the fireball as she did so. Raymond's sword was out, and the fireball was deflected, as were all of Ly's kicks. Raymond then ducked down, and tripped her. She fell to the ground and looked up at Raymond.

"Go on, then," she said with bitterness. "Kill me." Rayman just wordlessly sheathed his sword. Ly looked at him.

"You killed _that_," he clarified, "but I still lived." Ly sat up.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice still holding a trace of hostility in it.

"I heard that Rayman was executed," Raymond said. Ly nodded.

"So?"

"He was framed," Raymond stated firmly. Ly looked up in surprise.

"The only other Limbless in the world says that his brother was framed," Ly subconsciously rolled her eyes.

"Please, Ly," Raymond pleaded. "Please believe me. I think that we may be able to get proof." Ly looked up too quickly to hide her excitement. Raymond gave a knowing smile.

"I overheard a group of Fairies talking about the execution after it had been carried out," Raymond explained. "One of them asked if that meant that they'd 'gotten away with it,' but was immediately hushed up by the others. One of them happened to notice me, but I don't believe that we need to worry about that. Ly, help me clear his name. It may be too late for _him_, but I would like my brother's memory to be untarnished." Raymond held out his hand. Ly reached out, pulled back, and then grabbed his hand.

"Alright," she agreed. "I'll help you."

* * *

**Wow, this chapter was really hard to write. Just so you know and aren't confused with my stories, I've never played Rayman 2, so I'm basically making up Ly's personality as I go based on what little information I have. Just so that none of you are like, "She'd never do that!" or stuff like that.**


	3. THE FIRST NIGHT

CHILDREN: THE FIRST NIGHT

Rayman walked a few steps behind Niehr, numerous questions spinning around in his mind. Some of them were relevant, but most were panicked voices screaming various useless information coupled with irrelevant questions to no one in particular. Faces and memories kept flashing into his mind; Ly, Globox, and, for some particular reason, Mr. Dark. Rayman could feel his feet moving, but in his mind he was still at the scene of his death, watching Ly leave. Rayman kept walking, feeling his eyes begin to water, until a tree limb tripped him. Looking up, he realized that he was in Clearleaf Forest, only—it was night.

"Even as its denizens mark him as the cruelest of villains," Niehr spoke suddenly, making Rayman jump. "The world still mourns for a fallen hero."

"You're telling me that the planet itself is sad that I died?" Rayman asked, not believing it.

"You forget," Niehr said, "of what controls the energies of the world."

"It's the Heart—" Rayman started to say. Then he realized just what his mysterious companion meant. "...Yeah. I suppose he would be a little sad, huh?" Rayman thought back to that day, but a different thought entered his mind before he could reminisce.

"Hey, Niehr," he wondered aloud. "Wouldn't he—wouldn't the Heart know that I'm alive again?"

"I believe that I told you," Niehr explained again. "You somehow breathe, but your heart does not beat. Officially, Rayman, _you are still dead_. The Heart could only 'see' you if _it_ actually looked." Rayman detected an almost unnoticeable note of hostility in the word "it."

"But what about you?" he asked, pushing it to the back of his mind. "You're alive." Niehr gave a short, quiet laugh.

"I exist..." she turned toward a tree, and then placed her hand upon it. "But, at the same time..._I don't_." Her hand suddenly went through the tree. She looked at Rayman.

"Is there such a thing as a bright shadow?" she asked him. "Or a living death?"

"No," Rayman answered, confused. "Both of those things are physically impossible."

"And yet," Niehr replied. "You are living and dead. I have color, weight, and senses, yet I am nothing more than a shadow." Rayman only got more confused as Niehr "explained." Niehr suddenly grabbed his hand and put over her heart.

"What do you feel?" she asked. Rayman suddenly realized what she was getting at.

"Nothing," he answered, removing his hand. "I can't feel your heartbeat."

"The reason the Heart can't see us," Niehr explained, turning away. "Because _neither of us should exist_."

"Niehr," Rayman began. "Just who are you?" Niehr seemed to laugh again, and Rayman saw a drop of blood fall from her face.

"Niehr!" Rayman spun her around and saw that the bandage over her right eye had suddenly developed a large, dark bloodstain. Blood slowly trickled out from under it, flowing down and her face and finally dropping off her chin onto the grass. Her left eye was closed. The bloodstain seemed to fade as her eye opened again. The tiny river of blood dried, seeming to vanish.

"We must continue onward," she told Rayman, walking away. Rayman was about to follow but stopped, looking at the ground. For some reason, all the grass had died where Niehr's blood had fallen. Rayman shivered involuntarily and hurried after Niehr.

Niehr stopped suddenly, and Rayman nearly crashed into her. She was looking up. Rayman followed her gaze and saw the two moons. No stars surrounded them, creating an outline that looked like a certain someone's eyes.

It _can't see you_, Niehr's words echoed in Rayman's mind. Two silhouettes appeared in the moons. It took Rayman a moment to realize that they were both heading toward him. He jumped out of the way with a cry as what could only be described as a living shadow plummeted to the ground, another one following after it. The shadows became black puddles, which slowly formed themselves into two creatures, standing erect. Both had red eyes and wore only gray and black. They looked..._related_ to Niehr. One of them, presumably the older of the two, turned to Niehr.

"Where is he?" he asked calmly.

"You'll have to be more specific," Niehr's monotonous voice had a nearly indistinguishable edge to it.

"No, I don't think that I do," the man replied. "I believe you just need a little push." His grey hand darkened to black and promptly shot out at Niehr, who expectantly ducked and quickly moved closer in. Seeing this exchange as a battle cry, the younger one charged at a surprised Rayman, who jumped back as a black, oversized fist slammed into the ground.

"What's the matter?" the younger one asked. "We're nothing but _shadows_." Rayman threw out his fist and watched as it went through his opponent, having no effect whatsoever.

"Going to have to try a little bit harder," the strange creature told him, charging him again. Suddenly, trees quickly grew, sealing off each side from their companion. Rayman heard Niehr say, "It's seen us."

"Brother!" Rayman's adversary cried out. A bullet suddenly (not to mention randomly) flew out of the ground and struck a solid blow to the opponent. The one shot knocked him out. Rayman looked at the moons and stars, arranged in their strange pattern.

"Thanks," he said. He then jumped up into the trees to go help Niehr. However, he was paused by a bizarre scene that played out before him.

Niehr was calmly facing her opponent, who was looking at the trees in disbelief.

"What happened?" he cried out, turning to Niehr. "What did you do?" Rayman suddenly saw Niehr really smile, but it chilled him to the bone. The smile she war was full of hatred, bitterness, and above all, an evil that he'd seen from only one other person in his entire life.

"I couldn't have done it," she told him. "I'm not that strong."

"Where is Father?" the man asked.

"'Father' who?" Niehr replied.

"You will tell me!" the man shouted. "I'll beat it out of you!" He rushed in, but Niehr was faster. Rayman felt oddly cold blood splash upon his face as a black blade protruded from the man's back. Niehr kicked him off, and Rayman swore that he could hear her quiet laugh as her arm grew lighter and transformed back from the blade into a hand. The man struggled to stand.

"Th-this isn't the end," he muttered. His body transformed back into a shadow, which flew away, shortly followed by a smaller one. Rayman could feel his cover slipping away as the trees sank back into the ground. He saw Niehr's eye flick to him, then turn away.

_Good, she didn't see me_, Rayman thought.

**At this point I'm hoping that I left you with 4 questions:**

**What connection does Rayman have with the Heart of the World?**

**Who were those two shadow guys?**

**Who is "Father?"**

**Who exactly is Niehr?**

**If I haven't left you with these questions, then I fail at writing. If you actually write reviews, feel free to speculate—throw some answers out there. :)**


	4. THE SECOND DAY

LIES: THE SECOND DAY

Ly knew what she was feeling. She knew exactly what was stirring inside of her; she just didn't want to accept it. Rayman was alive. Ray_mond_ was also alive, and apparently, changed. And furthermore, Ray_man_ was innocent. These three thoughts swirled around in her head, showing images—no, memories—that Ly had hoped to bury. Some were recent, like her behavior towards Rayman after his resurrection. Others however…others were ones from not long ago that she'd only now gotten over. Ly gave a short laugh as she thought about Raymond's perfect timing; how he'd miraculously shown up just as the wounds healed.

"Find something amusing about all this, Ly?" Raymond asked from in front of her. Ly looked up, startled, realizing that she'd somehow completely forgotten he was there _while_ thinking about him.

"No," she looked down, avoiding Raymond's backward glance, "no, I was just thinking about…the past."

"Our past?"

"His."

Silence followed Ly's unintentionally sharp response as the two walked through the lush forest that had surrounded the Fairy Council for as long as either of them could remember. Ly avoided looking at Raymond as much as she could, instead focusing on the beautiful flora. It occurred to her that this was one of the first (if not _the_ first) times she'd seen this forest in the daylight. Unlike Clearleaf Forest, it lost some of its charm when the sun rose upon it.

"This forest…" Raymond mused. "…Is connected to the world. Did you know that?"

"Connected to the world?" Ly echoed. She could see Raymond nod out of the corner of her eye.

"It's proximity to the Heart has given the trees their own magical connection. If the Heart were a sentient being, one could in theory contact them via vegetation."

"…I didn't know that," Ly muttered.

"Guess Polokus didn't tell you _every_thing, hmm?" Raymond chuckled.

"That's not funny," Ly said firmly. Walking over to a strong tree that stood next to a pair of giant, bright red mushrooms, Ly paused. Well aware of Raymond's gaze (and not the least bit comfortable with it), she placed her hand on the tree and took a deep breath.

_Help me_, she thought. Suddenly, she could swear she saw the Heart's previous form sitting on one of the giant mushrooms.

"_You know this is a bad idea, Ly,_" he said, "_so why are you doing it? We both know that that's unlike you._"

_Nice to see you too_, Ly thought back sarcastically.

"_I see that you're in a business mood right now,_" the Heart crossed his arms. "_Even more unusual for you. Normally you'd at least answer my questions. What do you need?_"

_I need to know…where is Rayman_?

"_Right now?_" the Heart asked. "_In Clearleaf Forest—sleeping. I aided him a little last night, actually._"

_Where in Clearleaf Forest_? Ly pressed.

"_I'm not sure,_" the Heart sighed. "_His 'friend' has been doing everything in her power do keep me from finding them since the fight. And, at my strength right now, in order for me to search you'd need to divide the Heart itself so that I could take on a physical form._"

_Alright_, Ly nodded. _Then I'll go to the Heart_. _I…we…were going to the Fairy Council anyway._

"_You won't reach me,_" the Heart stood up. "_See, if I _were_ at full strength, I'd be able to do that myself, but there's a group of Fairies there who are tampering with the magical energies at the Council. I'm relatively sure that they're trying to destroy me inside-out, but with my current energy, I can barely do this._"

_So then when we go in we take them out_, Ly responded quickly. _The energies are restored, you show up, we find Rayman_.

"_Ly, you aren't thinking!_" the Heart chastised. "_Why would the Fairies be doing this _now_ if I've been the Heart of the world for half a year, especially if I was weaker than I am now for the two-month span when I 'assumed command,' for lack of a better term?_"

_They know we're coming_, Ly realized.

"_Exactly,_" the Heart nodded, "_but it gets better. They don't just know you two are coming, they know about everything. They know that Rayman's alive, that he's traveling by the cover of night, and that he's got help from mysterious girl who looks like you._"

_Wait, he's what_? Ly asked, but the Heart's image blurred a little.

"_They've rerouted more of the magic,_" he explained. "_I can't sustain this any longer. Goodbye, Ly._" The image continued to blur, until it was eventually one orange-ish and white blob. Soon, that began to fade, and then—nothing. Turning away from the tree, Ly almost couldn't bear the pain and sadness welling up inside her.

"You alright?" Raymond asked, concerned.

"Let's just go," Ly muttered.

Ly felt no better when they'd reached the Fairy Council. Looking up at it, questions arose in her mind: _What was going on inside? Was it the start of something? A coup? An invasion? Or something worse?_

"Ly?" Raymond asked. "Are we actually going _into_ the Fairy Council?" Ly looked at him for the first time since they'd left her house, nodded, and looked away again.

The Fairy Council didn't seem to have changed since it'd been reformed after Mr. Dark's last attempt at world domination. It was certainly busy. Ly, having never been here in the daytime either, was surprised at how bustling this place was. Teensies were scurrying through the halls, carrying books, scrolls, and objects that defied all logic, while Fairies flew above, shouting and carrying tons of large books.

"Act natural," Raymond whispered to Ly, "we need to find the ones that I saw."

"I suggest we split up," Ly said, secretly eager to get away from Raymond, "I'll check the upper floors and the Heart chamber, and you check the lower floors and the basement library." Raymond nodded, but his assent was riddled with apprehension; Ly could tell he knew the real reason for her suggestion.

"I _have_ changed, Ly," he muttered before turning and walking away.

_I think we both know why that's so hard to believe_, Ly thought bitterly.

Ly decided on one thing during her trek up to the Heart chamber: the Fairy Council was far easier to move in when almost no one was there. She wasn't sure how many times she'd been almost knocked over by an irritable Teensie rushing to something or other. Eventually, it dawned on her that one of the reasons the Teensies and Fairies could be so on edge was because of the death of Rayman (she had to keep reminding herself that she was one of the few who knew the world's former hero was at least somewhat alive), which would explain why so many of them were rushing around.

Eventually, she made it to the Chamber of the Heart, where she'd been planning to go ever since her conversation with said Heart. Ly needed his help, but, more importantly right now, she needed to see for herself just who was rerouting his energies. Upon reaching the room of the Heart itself, Ly could immediately hear a few small, shrill voices.

"Did you notice? The Heart's magic was routed to a tree in the forest around here."

"What? D-do you think it t-tried to contact s-s-someone? What if someone k-knows what we're d-d-doing here?"

"Shut up, you! _I_ cut off the magic flow right after it was sent. If the Heart did attempt to contact someone, its message never got through."

"I don't know about that, Alys. You _discovered_ it right after it was sent (and that was only because you were working on cutting off the Heart at the time). You _didn't_ reroute it away from that tree until some time later."

"Quiet! If someone _is_ coming, then we'll put an end to them when they get here, and none will be the wiser."

"A-Alys—"

"Stasy, for the last time, shut up! I'm busy trying to work, and I can't concentrate with your constant stuttering!"

"I-I was just going to say…s-someone's _here_."

"What?"

"R-Right by t-the d-d-door…"

"Very well…kill them."

Ly gasped and leapt back just as the door was blasted apart. On the other side stood (floated?) three Fairies; Ly assumed that the tallest Fairy with the foppish hat was Alys; the one wearing small, half-moon glasses was the one whom hadn't been named in the conversation, and the one floating the lowest to the ground with the drab hat was Stasy. There seemed only one thing that bound these three together: all of them were using magic akin to what Ly had seen Mr. Dark use.

"Ly, the Fairy," Alys feigned surprise, "what are you doing up here? I thought Rayman's lover would be mourning for him. Oh, wait"—her face transformed into an evil smirk—"you abandoned him, too, didn't you? When he needed you most, you left him to _die_." Ly knew what this Fairy was doing, but she didn't care; she'd walk into Alys's trap if it meant she could get her to shut up. For the first time, Ly let her emotions take over. Summoning up two fireballs, Ly charged with as much speed and fury as she could muster.

Not surprisingly, she saw too late that this had been the wrong choice. As she charged, the Fairies floated almost completely still, as if waiting. Then, when she was too close to dodge, they all tossed their orbs of darkness they'd been holding. Ly saw them coming, and then—darkness.

When light returned, she found herself laying spread-eagle on the floor. Dazed, she looked up to see Alys hovering over her, holding another orb of darkness. Looking behind this pompous Fairy, she saw the other two; the one with glasses was watching skeptically, while Stasy's eyes were nervously darting around, as if she were looking for something.

"You've fallen so far, Ly," Alys grinned. "Is _this_ the great heroine who stood next to Rayman and struck down Mr. Dark when he had surpassed Polokus himself?" She paused, seemingly considering it.

"No," she said finally, raising the orb above her head. "All I see is a corpse." Suddenly, the Fairy with glasses looked up, her eyes wide.

"Alys wait!" she called, but Alys wasn't listening. Ly closed her eyes, and felt something warm splash on her face. Opening her eyes again, Ly saw Raymond standing over her, his sword drawn. A second later the body of Alys, nearly sliced in two fell at Raymond's feet. The Limbless turned to Ly and grinned.

"You didn't seriously think I was going to agree to splitting up?" he laughed. Ly forced a smile, although, in truth, she now wished Alys's orb had struck true. The last thing she'd needed was Raymond saving her.

Raymond turned back to the Fairies, who now looked even less confident than before.

"Are you two going to come quietly?" he asked.

"As far as we've gone…" the spectacled Fairy began.

"…we're d-dead either way," Stasy finished.

"That's true, I guess," Raymond acknowledged. "Just thought I'd offer it up." Stasy summoned up an orb of darkness of her own and fired it off. Raymond cartwheeled to the side, and Ly, now standing, summoned up a fireball and launched it at the orb, moving to the side as she did so. She hadn't wanted Raymond here, but his arrival had given her a chance to clear her head. Thanks to him, it was hardly a fair fight.

Stasy suddenly screamed and began volleying off massive orbs of darkness. Raymond and Ly moved around the Heart chamber, but the orbs were still smashing through the walls.

_What is she doing?_ Ly wondered. _This will certainly attract attention._ Ly then realized the full meaning of the pair of Fairies' words: They'd been found out. One of their number was dead. Their crime was on such a level that they would be shown no mercy in a trial. They truly had nothing to lose—and as such, no reason to hold back.

Eventually, Stasy's attacks began growing farther and farther apart. That was when Ly noticed it: Stasy looked drained—literally. Wrinkles lined her previously young face; her hands were bony and pale. Her attacks had been sapping her of her life force, and soon, she had nothing left. After one last shot, Stacy collapsed into a pile of dust. This left only the unnamed Fairy against Raymond and Ly.

"I don't suppose you're going to be as easy as either of your friends there, hmm?" Raymond gestured to the sliced-open Alys and the pile of dust that was Stasy.

"Stasy shouldn't have finished my sentence for me," the Fairy laughed. "I've had no intention of fighting at all."

"You're…giving up?" Raymond lowered his guard. Ly's eyes narrowed. This Fairy…she was dangerous. Perhaps more dangerous than both the other Fairies combined. There was something about her that seemed…familiar.

"Don't misunderstand me, boy," the Fairy laughed. "I'm not giving up—I'm just leaving."

"You think anyone will let you just waltz out of here after what you've done?" Ly argued, readying a fireball.

"Such a simpleminded girl," the Fairy gave a familiar giggle. "Who says I'll be leaving by…conventional means?" Her formed seemed to darken and blur. It was growing, changing shape. Eventually, it formed a girl who looked a lot like Ly. However, she wore only black and gray, and her right eye was covered by a bandage. The only visible eye was an eerie red. A dark portal formed behind her.

"I'll leave with this piece of information," the girl said, her voice becoming suddenly monotone, "You defeated him…but he's still alive. And no matter what you do, he always will be." With that and a casual toss of her hair, the figure stepped into the portal, which closed immediately.

"We need to get out of here," Raymond said after a period of silence. "Any proof of a possible coup is dead. No it just looks like we decided to kill some Fairies." Ly nodded, feeling cold all over. Why had the Fairy taken her form? Was that…_thing_ even a Fairy? These questions remained in her head long after the two left the Fairy Council, all the way until they reached a good campsite in the forest. As Ly watched the sun set, a third question arose in her mind:

_The Heart said that Rayman was traveling with someone who looked like me…was it _her?

**Hey, look! I actually wrote something! This chapter, unlike some of the other stuff I've done was pretty easy to write after I decided what I was going to do with it. To tell you the truth, I thought up the whole second half as I was writing. I haven't mentioned the Heart's name yet, because I'm not sure if everyone's read through Apocalypse yet. I might bring it up in Chapter 5. Anyway, I know that this is my most-read Rayman story, so I want to see **_**reviews**_**! Thanks.**

**CHZL**


	5. THE SECOND NIGHT

ROOTS: THE SECOND NIGHT

Rayman slept restlessly. He was in the darkness. Somehow, he knew it. He was spiraling through it, falling without falling, moving but standing still. It was a most uncomfortable sensation, and it the thought appeared somewhere in his mind that it wasn't a dream. Rayman removed this thought from his head and continued to drift. In truth, he was scared. The darkness was suffocating and cold. It reminded him of someone…Mr. Dark? The man's face flashed through his mind in the darkness. No, not him. Someone even worse…but…

Niehr's smile appeared in Rayman's mind, and he suddenly felt as if he'd hit the ground. His eyes jerked open in unexplained terror, and he saw that he clearly _had_ hit the ground; he wasn't in Clearleaf Forest anymore. He felt a pair of cold patches on his side. Attempting to get warmer, he moved his hand over them—and promptly jumped when he realized that the patches were Niehr's icy hands. Rayman rolled away and sat up. Niehr actually looked mildly startled, and it seemed to Rayman that she was blushing, albeit incredibly light.

"I'm sorry," Niehr rubbed her hands a little bit, "did I startle you?"

"You have cold hands," Rayman hastily explained.

"You're warm," Niehr replied. Rayman could tell she meant nothing by this response, but he still blushed nonetheless.

"What happened?" he quickly changed the subject. "This isn't Clearleaf Forest."

"I moved us," Niehr explained, "so that we could look for answers."

"Answers?"

"We should probably find out who our adversaries from last night were," she hadn't looked in Rayman's direction since his awkward waking. Same old, same old.

"So are we going to the Fairy Council library?" Rayman asked.

"Does this look like that forest to you?" Niehr countered, a peculiar sarcastic edge to her voice. "We're nowhere near the Fairy Council. This is the Land of the Livid Dead."

"Why are we here?" Rayman asked. "I thought the Council Library was the biggest source of information in the accessible world."

"Are you tired?" Niehr asked.

"Not particularly," Rayman scratched his head.

"I thought you were smarter," Niehr mused. "Think about it. You're dead—I would imagine that you walking into such a structure as the Fairy Council would attract some attention. Furthermore, we're in one of the oldest regions of your world. I would imagine that there would be more information here than in the _newly rebuilt_ Fairy Council." Rayman had to admit, Niehr had a point, although he could sense that there was another reason as to why his companion didn't want to visit the Fairy Council. Was it because of him…or because of _her_?

"So, if you knew to go here," Rayman looked around, "I assume you know where we should be looking."

"The Tower," Niehr pointed to an all-too-familiar tower in the distance. The "Griskins' World" was a place he'd been to more than once, although he had not always enjoyed his visits. Naturally, Rayman was more than a little apprehensive about going back there, especially if Niehr was guiding him.

"Why don't you trust me?" Niehr asked abruptly. "…Is it because of how much I resemble…her?" Rayman almost asked, "'Her' who?" but caught himself, realizing with perhaps just a tad too much regret that she was referring to Ly. Ly, who had helped him to defeat Razorbeard so long ago. Ly, who, more recently, went alongside him and Frank to defeat Mr. Dark. Ly, who had become a friend, who was becoming so much _more_—"Is it because of how she betrayed you?"

"What?" Rayman stammered. Niehr gave a short, mirthless laugh.

"Don't try to hide what you feel, Rayman," she told him quietly. "You aren't any good at it. I can see it—your bitterness; your resentment; your _hate_…all finds its way to your memories of her." She then held up her hand, appearing from behind to be examining it.

"And who's to say it's your fault?" Niehr continued, eerie laughter on the edges of her voice. "After all"—Niehr spun around, and Rayman saw that her right eye had once again begun to bleed—"she betrayed you. She saw you before the execution, and yet she did nothing to stop it; and later, she witnessed your return. But, instead of returning the fondness you felt for her, she threatened to kill you…and then she fled. Yes, Rayman, she betrayed you, and you hate her for it. And do you know what the best part is, Rayman?" Niehr was now smiling fully; a dark, hateful smile, full of malice, evil…and _affection_. She stepped closer to Rayman now, and Rayman could swear that he could see thick tendrils of darkness coming from her and the ground around her feet.

"The best part, Rayman," Niehr was standing mere inches from Rayman now, her face uncomfortably close to his, "is that no matter how this ends, if you are proven innocent, if you somehow resurrect Globox, even if the three of you become as close as you once were…that hate within you will never die. It will always be there, in the back of your mind, burning endlessly. Not just because of her, however…" Niehr suddenly put a hand on Rayman's shoulder and pulled him closer to her, embracing him.

"…Because of _me_," she whispered in his ear. The dark tendrils enclosed around them both.

"…You've been staring at me for some time, now," Niehr's placid voice brought Rayman back. She was standing ahead of him, where she'd started, watching him with the faintest look of apology and apprehension. "Did I…do something wrong?" Images of Niehr's speech seconds ago flashed dimly through Rayman's mind. He studied her bandage closely, but saw no trace of blood.

"Sorry," he said. "I…just spaced out." Niehr made to approach him, hesitated, and then turned around, silently beginning her walk to the Tower.

Niehr had apparently had a pretty good internal map, if she'd really moved Rayman and herself to where he'd woken up; the walk to the Tower was less than three minutes.

"Where are we going?" Rayman asked when they'd reach the Tower's base. "Last time I was here, I didn't see any sort of information."

"You never went into the lower levels," Niehr replied.

"Lower levels?"

"Living beings can't find the entrance," Niehr told him. "The Griskins, being ancient, have stores of knowledge that could, if in the wrong hands, change the face of the world—it's only natural that they would want to keep them hidden."

"But if only the dead can get to them, then how did the Griskins…" he paused. Land of the Livid _Dead_. "Oh. Right." Niehr seemed to chuckle, and for once it didn't frighten him. It was oddly comforting to hear a normal laugh come from his mysterious companion.

"But then how are we getting in?" he asked.

"You forget so easily," Niehr half-turned her head, so she could see him from her one exposed eye, "you _are_ dead, and I don't officially exist, so we should have no problem getting in." Rayman scratched his head. It was hard to remember that he was dead, and harder to remember that Niehr wasn't…what? _Real_? It was hard to say, because, even now, he still wasn't entirely sure what the girl meant. It was then that he noticed something else: the door was closed.

By "door", of course, he meant the inter-dimensional portal the Griskins had activated for him the first time he'd come here that took him inside the real Tower. As far as he knew, only the Griskins could open it, and without that, there was only a building of stars with a semi-connected spiral staircase (which, by the way, led nowhere). As far as he could tell, everything of importance was beyond the door. In other words, no door, no lower levels.

Niehr didn't seem to notice—Rayman almost automatically skipped over the thought of her not knowing, as that had yet to happen, and now, seemed impossible. When she approached the arch where the door would be, Niehr spawned an orb of darkness and hurled it at the arch. As soon as the orb hit where the door would've been, it flattened and expanded. Soon, a new (if not slightly off-color) door was swirling in the arch.

"That was…impressive," Rayman stammered. Niehr didn't respond.

"Don't you wonder why I'm not hiding my control over darkness from you anymore?" she wondered aloud. Rayman inadvertently drew in a sharp breath.

"Spying on women is rude," Niehr informed him coolly. "Especially when they're in the middle of a sibling rivalry."

_She knew I was watching her fight that boy,_ Rayman realized. It took him a moment before he noticed the real hint in her response.

"Sibling rivalry?" he asked. "…So you already know who those two were." Niehr gave what seemed like a light sigh of approval.

"I have a hunch," she said carefully, before stepping through the door. Rayman followed, and wasn't surprised in the least to feel what had become a familiar fear within him.

Niehr was, of course, right. Below the floor was a massive library, full of tomes written in languages Rayman had never seen, but that Niehr seemed to understand just fine.

"Please leave me in peace while I read, Rayman," Niehr's voice remained normal, but Rayman still felt like he was being ordered away (which wasn't to say that he wasn't secretly thrilled to have an excuse to get away from Niehr). Trying his best to look unhappy, he left Niehr to the old book she was reading through and began wandering the halls.

It wasn't long before Rayman found yet another thing bizarre about the library; looking up, he did not see the twin moons, but a whole other planet hovering above him. The large, red rock was something that Rayman was sure had never been there before, if purely for the fact that he couldn't have missed something that big, especially when it was in front of the twin moons.

_The twin moons, that look so much like the Heart's eyes…_Rayman thought about it, and realizded what it meant: the Heart of the world could not see down here, for whatever reason; more importantly, he couldn't help Rayman.

"Rayman?" the voice, the familiar voice, was one that shocked Rayman, and made him recall Niehr's words far too soon for his liking. Turning to his left, he saw exactly whom he expected.

"Ly?" Rayman said, as if asking for confirmation. Ly smiled sadly, then ran up and hugged Rayman tightly.

"I'm…" she said. "I'm sorry…for how I treated you, when you…came back."

"It's alright," Rayman replied. "I'm working on proving myself innocent with a…an acquaintance, but I could probably use your help."

"I felt horrible," Ly continued, "I knew I had to find you. I shouldn't have let them kill you, but now that you're alive again…I have a chance to help make things right."

_Alive_, Rayman thought suddenly. _Wait…Ly's alive…so then how did…?_ Rayman pushed himself away just in time to dodge Ly's kneecap.

"To help make things right," Ly repeated. "By killing you for good." She launched a fireball, but Rayman easily dodged it.

"Ly, wait!"

"Like you 'waited' for Globox?" Ly cried out, launching two more fireballs. Rayman dodged them both. He knew that there was nowhere to run…he knew what he had to do. But he just couldn't.

"Ly, please!" he pleaded. "Please listen to me!"

"I'm done listening to you!" Ly cried, tears in her eyes. "I'm…I'm going to kill you!" Ly prepared a fireball, overcharging it on purpose before launching it a Rayman.

Rayman was completely numb. Ly really had turned her back on him. There was nothing left.

Anger seamlessly replaced his grief. With an inhuman scream Rayman grabbed Ly's fireball from the air. He then shot his blazing fist with all of his power. It traveled faster than Rayman thought possible. Ly had no time to react.

There was a sickening sound, like someone splattering a plum with a hammer. Rayman's head cleared just in time to see that simmering hole his fist had made through Ly's stomach. Ly looked down in disbelief, then back up.

"I…" she staggered toward him. "_I knew it_." Ly fell to the ground, dead. Rayman sank to the floor. He'd done it. He'd killed the one person closest to him in cold blood. Maybe…maybe he really had killed Globox. If this fight was any evidence, Rayman could've let rage overtake him and beaten his friend to death. But at the moment, that didn't matter.

Only two things mattered to Rayman right then: Ly was dead, and Rayman had killed her.

**Yep. I've killed off both of the other primary canon characters. Because I believe that only **_**my**_** characters should star in Rayman stories (mua ha ha ha ha ha)! No, I'm kidding. So, I'm sure that you guys are all kind of wondering what's up with Niehr and why Rayman's suddenly hallucinating. Well, I'm just going to say it right now—I don't really know. I've figured out everything with Niehr's character (not giving anything away, though), but I'm still working on the whole thing with Rayman. So for now, I'm just going to say that when Niehr moved Rayman to the Land of the Livid Dead, it messed with his head a little, causing him to have that hallucination…or did he have a hallucination? I'll leave that up to you for the moment—just know that I have more planned than I'm letting on. Anyway, review and stuff—maybe speculate, too. It's always fun to read your predictions (when you actually write them…hint, hint). Til next time,**

**CHZL**


	6. THE THIRD DAY

**I noticed it in the last chapter, but it doesn't look like any of you did. If anyone noticed the plot hole in ROOTS: THE SECOND NIGHT, props to them. That's what I get for writing as fast and late as I was. Oh, well. Also, if you didn't see the plot hole, don't go looking for it. Leave the story as it was when you first read it.**

BLOODLINES: THE THIRD DAY

Ly sat listlessly on the Teensie's ship as it slowly sailed the winds above the world. The world that Rayman was on—the world that other girl was on.

_Rayman_, Ly wondered. _Just where are you_? _Do you know that the girl you're with tried to kill me_? _Do you…do you care_? Ly's thoughts began to spiral wildly.

_Of course not_, a voice inside her said. _After all, you turned your back on him_._ You didn't save him_;_ you didn't even try_. _As a matter of fact_,_ you did just the opposite when he came back_._ No_,_ Ly_,_ even if he did know_,_ he wouldn't care_.

"And you know what?" a voice said beside Ly. Ly turned sharply, startled, and saw, leaning on the edge of the ship's railing, _her_. Ly was too stunned to move.

"How…how did you get on this ship?" Ly asked, trying to hide her fear. "The Teensies enveloped this thing in a magical barrier that even Frank couldn't get through!" The girl smiled. It was an innocent, cheerful, and surprisingly cute smile, but the sight of it chilled Ly to the bone.

"Rayman…last night he killed you," she giggled lightly. The bandage around her right eye was slowly developing a bloodstain. "You'd be impressed at how strong he's gotten. He was able to catch your strongest fireball, and he used its power to punch right through you. Yes, he'd be strong enough to defeat _him_ alone—if only he were playing for the right team." Tendrils of darkness began coming out of the girl as blood began trickling out from her bandage.

"But," the girl began walking toward Ly slowly, "what about _you_? Rayman has chosen the darkness over the light, although he doesn't know it yet. But you, Ly"—the girl put a hand to Ly's head, and Ly felt an overwhelming force rush through her—"yes…I can see it even now; the shadows licking away at the edges of your heart and mind. Rayman may have been tricked into fighting against the light rather than for it, but you…you are the interesting one. The one created from light, but who willingly chose the darkness. When he came back, you tried to repress it, even if it was just for him—but what will you do now that he has chosen the darkness as well? Will you fight the only reason you've stayed on this side?"

"You're wrong," Ly found that she had a splitting headache as she said this, "I didn't choose the darkness, and Rayman never would!"

"No," the girl agreed, "no, you didn't. It chose _you_—isn't that right? It sensed your potential, Ly, and it chose you. And now, I'm going to make sure it chose wisely." The darkness around the girl intensified, along with Ly's headache. Ly suddenly saw that she was standing on a tower made of black metal. She turned, and saw Rayman next to her, smiling. She smiled back, and then turned and saw Mr. Dark tied to a small pillar rising up near them. His black blood was draining into a small fountain, filling it. Rayman turned and began to walk to the fountain in slow motion. Ly followed without thinking. When he reached the fountain, Rayman lowered in his cupped hands, scooping out some of Mr. Dark's blood. Ly did so, too. Rayman held his hands up and began to drink. Ly did so as well, watching as Rayman's skin began to lighten to an unearthly gray, while his clothes turned black. Ly drank tentatively at first, but then felt a rush of power as she drank the tasteless liquid. It felt good—no, better than good—it felt _right_, as if she deserved this power. She wanted more. She wanted it all. Ly ran over to the fountain and plunged her head in, gulping in the blood of Mr. Dark as if it were air. Then, though, something strange happened. There was a little pinprick of white at the very center of the dark blood. It hurt to look at, and it had started to grow. Ly squinted angrily, trying to use her hand to scrub away the light, but it kept growing. Soon, it entered her mouth. It tasted vile, posionous. Ly coughed out black bubbles, gagging on the light that continued to grow and surround her. As everything went white, Ly screamed.

The girl winced as she was blown across the deck of the ship by the sudden burst of light from Ly.

"Why do you repress it?" She muttered angrily. "Why fight the power inside of you?"

"That's not power!" Ly retorted, panting. "I'm not giving into it. No matter how much you try to increase the shadows in me, the light—_my_ light—will always push them back!"

"Hmm," the girl gave a sinister smile. "If only you had not been there to see him alive…Perhaps if you believe you'd lost everything, you'd have let the darkness consume you." Ly grimaced.

"Like I'd believe you if you told me anything!" she shot back. The girl simply smiled in reply.

"I'll take my leave," she said. "Rayman is at the Land of the Livid Dead, if you were looking for a heading. Ah, but"—she shot a small needle of darkness below deck—"you might have some trouble getting there. We'll see each other again. Goodbye." And then she was gone.

Ly looked inquisitively at the floor, and inhaled slowly. She moved back to the railing, resting her arms on it again. Sighing, Ly stared at the clouds passing around the ship, Niehr's words picking at the edges of her mind. Despite this, she was fully aware of Raymond's footsteps as he appeared behind her. Ly closed her eyes and grimaced.

"Hey," he said, approaching her. Ly stood up.

"Go away," she said, her eyes fixed on the clouds. Raymond's footsteps stopped.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Why can't you leave me alone, Raymond?" Ly spun around, her voice harsh. "What makes you think that after what you did to me I'd ever want to see you again?"

"I—I didn't know-" Raymond stammered.

"Raymond, I don't care!" Ly spat. "What you did to me, I've never been able to fix! I can't even trust myself anymore because of you. And"—she sank to her knees—"no matter how much time passes, I'll never be normal." Raymond looked away.

"Check the engine," he growled eventually. "We have a problem." Turning away completely, he quickly disappeared below deck.

Ly was surprised when she went to the engine room to find that the Teensies had put up a barrier around the engine.

"Who are we keeping out?" she asked one of them.

"_What_ are we keeping _in_," he corrected, gesturing to the engine. Ly took a closer look at the engine and saw a dark mass behind it. As she approached, a single, yellow eye appeared. The pupil swirled around the edges sickeningly for a moment, then centered, looking at Ly. The eye was covered by the swirling mass, which then detached from the wall and began taking a humanoid shape. As it built upon itself, occasionally toppling over in the process, it began to resemble a familiar foe.

"Not him…" a younger Teensie begged, his voice cracking. "Anyone but _him_…" Ly thought briefly of attempting to soothe him, but then saw what everyone else had already recognized—the mass had shaped itself as Mr. Dark.

Mr. Dark stepped forward, leaving eerie black ooze behind with each step (this black ooze quickly raced after him and jumped back onto his body, however).

"Through the sword-bearer shall I be reborn," he told Ly cryptically, his voice sounding as if he was somehow gargling water while he spoke. "Thank you, Ly, for bringing him to me again—thank you…for resurrecting me."

His message delivered, Mr. Dark suddenly groaned and doubled over. His body returned to being a featureless mass, which proceeded to jump onto the engine…and explode.

Naturally, the ship only floated for mere seconds more before suddenly nose-diving down.

"What do we do?" cried a Teensie. Ly was just about to suggest a plan when the ship hit the ground.

Pain. That was all that woke her up. In some ways, Ly believed the only reason she hadn't died in the crash was because the pain was too great for her to ignore. She wasn't just thinking about physical pain, even if her entire body was racked with it; no, Ly was thinking about the true pain…the pain of losing Globox, the pain of watching Rayman die, the pain of listening to herself threatening to kill him when he came back, the pain of listening to that girl remind Ly of what she really was, and, most recently, the pain of possibly bringing back the greatest evil her world had ever known. So much pain.

Groaning, Ly opened her eyes and removed the wood currently cutting into her palms and chest. She stood up, surveying the destruction of the ship the Teensies had spent so much time on. Amongst the splintered wood and fire lay shards of metal and glass, in which Ly could see her face—bruised, cut, and bloody, yet completely expressionless. On the inside, Ly was screaming at herself to cry, to shout in anger, to do _something_ that told her that she felt sorry for the Teensies—the Teensies whose corpses were sure to be scattered around here—and yet nothing came. Try as she might, Ly couldn't cry. Were their lives really that insignificant to her? Ly suddenly realized that she'd never even asked them for their names. She'd never cared.

A rock hit the back of Ly's head. She spun around, and saw the young Teensie from before.

"Monster," he shook, covered in blood—not all of it was his own. "How could you bring him _back_? _Why_ did you? What are you gaining out of all this violence?"

"Violence?" Ly asked.

"Don't act like you don't know!" the Teensie spat, throwing another rock. This one was larger, sharper—Ly could feel another cut appear on her face as it hit. "You killed those Fairies at the Council! I didn't want to believe it, but now…it was you the whole time!" Ly suddenly remembered the two Fairies in the chamber of the heart, Stasy and Alys. Their bodies were still there—that girl must've become the one with glasses again and spread the rumor that it had been Ly's doing…which, in truth, it was. That girl had probably left out what the Fairies were really up to.

"I'm not going to let you kill any more of us…" the Teensie growled, summoning up some sort of magic orb. "You're going to die right here—in the destruction you caused. It's almost…poetic." He fired the orb. As it came, thoughts raced through Ly's mind. They became simpler and simpler, narrowing down to one base thought.

When Ly opened her eyes, the orb was gone. The Teensie was on the ground, his breath ragged. As Ly approached, she could see it…the remains of the black fireball she'd thrown, burning away at the Teensie's body. Somewhere, someone was laughing. Ly turned wearily and saw black droplets coming together—forming the black mass from before.

This time however, they made the girl. _That_ girl.

"Yes, Ly," she laughed. "You've finally accepted your fate. No…'accepted' is the wrong word. 'Embraced' does it justice." She came closer to Ly. "I always knew you had it in you. You just needed to give in to the power. To accept the gift. Now that you have"—she suddenly leapt back to where she'd first appeared—"I'm done with you."

"Where's…" Ly panted. "Where's Raymond?"

"Raymond is where he needs to be to make everything go as needed," the girl replied. "Do not concern yourself with that waste of space. After all…intermission is ending, and he's heading into his final act very soon"—the girl caught Ly's expression—"oh don't worry. You won't do it. That is…unless you want to…?" Ly held Niehr's gaze firmly.

"I see," Niehr frowned playfully. "Thought I would ask—you have been _very_ surprising recently, so my prediction could've been off. But very well…things will go on as planned. Well, Ly, I'm afraid the sun's setting, so I must take my leave. I'll be keeping a close eye on how you progress, dear girl—I can't wait to see how the darkness inside of you festers. Ah, yes—you've reached your destination…welcome to the Land of the Livid Dead." She disappeared, but her laughter remained.

Ly looked at the Teensie, black fire consuming his body.

"No…" she whispered. "No, no, no, no, no!" Ly screamed the word into the air, shooting fireballs everywhere. But no matter what she did, every one of them was made with black fire. Sinking to her knees, Ly finally began to cry.

**So sorry for the delay—I'm really backed up with summer school (for all of you thinking I failed a class, I DIDN'T—I'm doing this to make room for stuff in my schedule). I kinda forgot I still had this going, too, so there's that. And to top it all off, I lost my flash drive that my stories were on, so I had to go find the backup drive and work off of that. Right, anyway, The Deceased. Well, this is exciting. Not only do we learn that Ly is very much alive, but also get to see her turn evil—ha ha, just kidding. No, I will tell you right now that I'm not going to make Ly evil in this story. However, can you say "future plot point"? Right, well, I have some things planned for Raymond, and I might deviate from the pattern to give him his own chapter. This is because I want to show you what happens, and most certainly NOT because I have no idea what I'm going to do with Rayman and Niehr, who's quickly becoming my favorite character to work with in this story. Anyway, that's all for now, because I still have work to do.**

**CHZL**


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